When I buy domain names or client’s are needing to secure one, I point them to Cloudflare. More importantly, that’s my go to for managing DNS.
Even if a client buys a domain somewhere else, I’ll still point the nameservers to Cloudflare. I do that so traffic is handled before it ever reaches the web server so you can load the site lightning quick.
And with today’s internet, a large share of web traffic is automated now, and a lot of it is useless or hostile. In fact, automated traffic surpassed human activity, accounting for 51% of all web traffic in 2025. If you let all of that hit your server, you’re going to be dealing with bots slowing down your site/CRM and creating headaches.
Take this site you’re on now. It runs in full proxy mode at Cloudflare, with SSL handled at the edge. Public WordPress pages sit behind Cloudflare and my CRM is at my.civicopilot.com, so I don’t need to worry about caching CiviCRM forms. Side note: the data still makes it to my CRM from say the contact form; I use Form processor and other methods to link that up. A post for another day…
And my contact page? It has bot detection aka “Browser Integrity Check” turned on to prevent needless spam.
But, you have to take precautions to avoid serving someone else’s session to the wrong visitor. The classic example is the WordPress admin toolbar showing up on a cached page. That happens when Cloudflare caches HTML that was generated while a user was logged in.
The fix is straightforward — and all of this works on Cloudflare’s free plan. You exclude requests that include the wordpress_logged_in_ cookie from being cached. That ensures logged-in users are never served cached HTML.
In addition, your CiviCRM base page, typically at /civicrm/ where event registration and donations run — should always bypass edge caching entirely.
Best of all, most nonprofits never need the Pro paid plan. The free plan comes with:
- CDN for fast global delivery
- Universal SSL
- Fast, resilient DNS
- Web application firewall
- Traffic and security analytics
- Bot mitigation
- DDoS protection
- IP-based rate limiting
What about buying domains?
Cloudflare also prices domains fairly. You’re basically paying wholesale. Renewals are predictable. No teaser pricing with a renewal hike. Contrast that with GoDaddy, constantly pushes add-ons like email, SSL, and “security.” Their business model is upselling, not making DNS and infrastructure easier to manage.
The simple takeaway:
Cloudflare is a no-fuss way to manage DNS and serve content quicker. Used correctly, it protects your server, improves performance, and keeps dynamic systems like CiviCRM or logged in user sessions working as intended.